‘I see them,’ she said. ‘Not sure they can keep up, though.’

Her autocannon ripped into the fortress, her craft soaring through the gap she had created. I could not make sense of the images from within, expecting any moment for Shard to hit some obstruction and be torn to pieces. But, impossibly, she ducked and darted, the manoeuvrability of the Lightning matched only by her skill. Emerging on the far side she banked sharply, blasting a new hole through the xenos structure and soaring within again, just in time to avoid the ork pursuers.

I could barely watch, but neither could I turn away. To sever the link might mean I could never restore it. Still, an image pricked the edge of my mind. It was faint, but the hunched silhouettes framing a pict screen were unmistakable. It showed schematics, presumably the fortress’ interior, the pict crude but clear.

It was Mizar. My proximity had somehow reconnected me with the seer-skull. I could free it, perhaps allow it to escape through a viewport and trust its anti-gravity unit to bring it home. But there was no time, for as Shard burst through the hull once more I saw her registered on the screen, and heard the ork mechanical grunt as he ordered his crew to bring their weapons about. Fast as she was, skilled as she was, she could not do this forever.

And my role became clear.

Mizar, so long enchained, required little urging. I compelled it to drift from its captor, extending the chain to its maximum length. Then I urged it forward and round, so that the links wrapped about the ork’s throat and pulled taut. The ork mechanical gasped, grasping at its neck, but the chain was forged by ork hands, the links thick as my wrist. It scrabbled, struggling against me, but I held tight, ignoring Mizar’s manifold warnings. The ork’s subordinates raised their weapons, either seeking to free their master or slay him and take his place. Bullets and searing bolts of energy tore through the air, but Mizar was a small target and the orks were no marksmen.

‘Shard,’ I managed. ‘They are set to fire. There–’

‘I see them.’

A shot clipped Mizar, and it tumbled from the air. But it landed facing the viewport, and through its dying eye I saw Shard’s Lightning hurtling towards the bridge with terrifying speed. The lascannons flashed bright. My pain was momentary, if not my sense of loss. As Mizar faded I found myself syncing with Iwazar. But all I could see was lightning, tearing the sky apart.

‘Shard?’ I tried. The vox crackled, but I could not hear her.